OpinionBy Jonathan Zimmerman Jonathan Zimmerman
–
Mon May 2, 5:43 pm ET
Celebrating Osama bin Laden's death is anti-American ... and not very biblical
New York – “Do not rejoice when your enemies fall, and do not
let your heart be glad when they stumble.”
So says Proverbs 24:17, in a book that millions of
Americans hold sacred. The Bible also says that you should love your
enemy as yourself, and that vengeance is the Lord’s alone.
But all of that went out the window Sunday night and
Monday, as news spread that American forces had killed Osama bin Laden.
At Ground Zero in New York, site of the World Trade Center attacks that
bin Laden masterminded, crowds sang the “hey, hey, good-bye” song that
sports fans use to taunt their defeated foes. Borrowing another sports
metaphor, one reveler held up a sign that said, “Obama 1, Osama 0.”
President Obama himself struck a solemn note as he
announced bin Laden’s death, in a televised address from the White
House. But outside, on Pennsylvania Avenue, the mood was merry. An
estimated thousand people danced, waved flags, and chanted “U.S.A.!
U.S.A.!” They carried signs, too, including one which read, “Ding, Dong,
Bin Laden is Dead.”
There is something deeply wrong with this picture. By
celebrating death, even of someone as evil as bin Laden, we let our
worst impulses trump what Abraham Lincoln called “the better angels of
our nature.” We look petty, juvenile, and small. And we should all be
worried about that.
Let me be clear: I am relieved that Osama bin Laden
is dead. He caused a lot of death himself, of course, and his own demise
means that he won’t be able to wreak more havoc on the world.
Second, I recognize that revenge is a natural
reaction to tragedy, violence, and injustice. Ever since Homer’s Illiad,
where Achilles goes on a rampage to avenge the death of his beloved
friend Patroclus, poets and playwrights have reminded us about the
powerful role of vengeance in human affairs.
Time for sober reflection, not silly celebrationBut a
natural impulse isn’t necessarily a good one. Yes, we feel the need to
exact revenge from our enemies. But our key religious scriptures as well
as our greatest political leaders warn us against this dark human
desire, which transmits our feuds and vendettas to future generations.
Indeed, we are at our most human when we are resisting it.
That’s why Lincoln concluded his second inaugural
address, in March 1865, by promising “malice toward none” and “charity
for all.” Lincoln and his generation bore witness to the greatest
bloodletting in American history; whereas fewer than 3,000 died in the
World Trade Center attacks, over 600,000 would perish in the Civil War.
But Lincoln rejected calls for revenge against the soon-to-be-defeated
Confederacy. Instead, he called upon all Americans to recognize the
essential humanity of us all.
And part of being human, Lincoln insisted, was
recognizing our own intellectual and moral limitations. Even as he
directed the most devastating war Americans had seen, Lincoln did not
assume that his side had a monopoly on virtue. “Both read the same
Bible, and pray to the same God,” Lincoln said, referring to the North
and South, “and each invokes His aid against the other.... [L]et us
judge not, that we be not judged.”
It would not be easy. But Lincoln understood that,
too. That’s why he invoked our shared national destiny, insisting that
America had something hugely important to teach the world. To Lincoln,
and to millions of Americans since, the United States represented “the
last best hope of earth.” In striving to meet his charge, we would
establish a model and an example for people everywhere.
And last night, in celebrating the death of Osama bin
Laden, we lost sight of that responsibility. And don’t think the rest
of the world didn’t notice, either. Remember when Palestinians danced on
the streets of the West Bank, to rejoice over the World Trade Center
attacks? That’s what we looked like last night to many of the very
people whose hearts and minds we’ve spent billions to win.
But there’s still time to make it right. The death
of Osama bin Laden should be an occasion for sober reflection, not for
silly celebration. We should use it to ask what we have won, what we
have lost, and what remains to be done. Anything less will do violence
to our own better angels, and to our best national aspirations.
Jonathan Zimmerman teaches history and education at
New York University. He is the author, most recently, of “Small Wonder:
The Little Red Schoolhouse in History and Memory.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20110502/cm_csm/381112/
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
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